1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jewelry device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an interchangeable jewelry device wherein various ornaments can be easily secured and removed by hand through the use of a spring tension clip and made available on pendants, necklaces, pins, bracelets, or other types of jewelry.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
There are innumerable methods of making and displaying jewelry on the human body. There are also innumerable methods and mediums which artists have used to create these jewelry items. As an example, pendants, decorative ornaments hung from a cord or chain around the neck, have been part of every human culture for millennia. The same is true for earrings, bracelets, pins, and other types of necklaces.
Typically, a casing (usually a decorative metal) is fashioned to hold some kind of ornament or gemstone within its confines. The ornament or stone is then permanently set within the casing by soldering or is secured by other well known techniques in the art (e.g., rivets, adhesives, folded tabs or prongs) One variation on how an ornament can be set is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,524 to Korwin wherein an ornament is secured through the use of folded tabs around the casing. In such a fastening, the ornament is permanently secured within the setting.
A limitation with all of the techniques thus described and others not mentioned here is their structural permanency. Once secured onto the casing the ornaments are incapable of being removed without destroying the ornament or the casing itself. If repairs or a replacement is needed, it must be done by a professional jeweler, customarily at the expense of the owner.
How can this structural permanency limitation of most jewelry be addressed in a simple, efficient and cost-effective way? The present invention provides the answer by allowing jewelry wearers the ability to instantly change the design of an item of jewelry to accessorize with different clothing, makeup, or hair colors.
Previous attempts have been made to create interchangeable jewelry constructions. Each, however, is limited by the need for excessive and elaborate construction and machining, bringing to mind the adage, “more is less and less is more.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,155 issued to Law for “Jewelry with Interchangeable Ornamentation,” provides a method for interchangeability requiring numerous and separate “fingers” which protrude from the circumference of the backing or casing and also requires a separate element for securing to the person. In this design, there are many component parts that need to be arranged to form the whole—a construction which is costly, inelegant, and excessive for the purpose of interchangeability.
There is one method in the relevant art for setting an ornament through compression spring force found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,679 to Kretchmer. However, like other devices and methods for setting jewelry items, this method teaches how to permanently secure a gemstone through a special annealing and heat treatment of a gemstone to secure it to the metal alloy so that “[w]hen struck with unusual force” the gemstone will not be dislodged from its setting. This method is also time-consuming and costly since it requires special techniques to be used to cast and then treat alloy to get it to a hardened state. Lastly, the method does not allow for other, more inexpensive materials to be used such as plastic or the kinds of lightweight metals desirable to create the present invention.
These patents, and others like them, referenced in documentation attached to this application, cover a variety of devices and methods for holding or setting stones, gems, or other decorative pieces in a variety of frames and settings, and all require either detailed machining or the creation of complicated parts and devices. Further, they all require a permanency in settings and do not provide interchangeability as in the present invention.
What is needed is a jewelry device providing beautiful, interchangeable ornamentation but requiring fewer parts and less expensive methods of manufacture and design. In short, a design for interchangeability that is elegant in the simplicity of its construction while still retaining the beauty of its design.